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Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk rides in Tesla's robotaxi at an unveiling event in Los Angeles on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 11, 2024

Tesla CEO Musk unveils Cybercab and Robovan as focus shifts to automation

Musk said Cybercab production will start in 2026, with the autonomous taxis available to buy for less than $30,000.
Hiroyuki Okuzawa, chief operating officer of Daiichi Sankyo, during an interview in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024

Daiichi Sankyo eyes newer cancer drugs to stave off rivals

The Japanese drugmaker has emerged as a leader in ADC, a type of cancer therapy that targets cancerous cells while sparing the healthy ones.
The Bank of Japan's surprise rate increase on July 31 led to Japanese stocks plummeting into bear-market territory, with the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average falling 12.4% on Aug. 5 alone.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2024

Bank of Japan vows better messaging to avoid more market turmoil

There is "strong will" within the central bank to learn from what had happened during its last rate increase, BOJ Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino.
An office worker inside a commercial building at night in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Oct 11, 2024

Widespread overwork and stress found in Japan's arts and health sectors

In the arts and entertainment sector, over 40% of technical staff and stage directors worked 60 hours or more in a week, a health ministry survey found.
The history of cooking shows that no country can claim exclusive ownership of a dish, as many iconic foods like kabobs, pizzas, or pad thai have international roots shaped by cultural exchanges.
COMMENTARY
Oct 11, 2024

A battle over the kebab’s nationality

National dishes are often recent constructs, with many foods evolving across regions and influenced by various cultures.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during a party leaders' debate at the Upper House of parliament in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2024

Opposition party shakes up Japan’s rate debate with new inflation target

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan calls for redefining the Bank of Japan’s inflation target to “above 0%” from the current 2%.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends the East Asia Summit during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 11, 2024

Ishiba clears low bar in diplomatic debut

Experts said Ishiba's visit signaled that he would maintain continuity with the policies set by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
A U.S. security panel granted Nippon Steel permission to refile its bid, pushing a final decision beyond the presidential election next month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 12, 2024

Nippon Steel will exit Alabama plant if U.S. Steel bid succeeds

Japan’s biggest steelmaker would offload its 50% holding in AM/NS Calvert to its joint-venture partner ArcelorMittal for $1, it said in a statement on Friday.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Foan. For investors who were hoping to hear authorities spell out exactly how much the government will spend to revive the ailing economy, Saturday's news conference was disappointing.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Oct 12, 2024

China's stimulus message leaves investors wanting though hanging onto hope

Saturday's news conference reiterated Beijing's broad plans to revive the ailing economy, leaving investors disappointed at the lack of detail.
Starting on Nov. 5, the Tokyo Stock Exchange will extend its stock trading hours by 30 minutes to 3:30 p.m.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 13, 2024

200 listed firms in Japan to postpone earnings disclosure

The delay in disclosure signals that companies make light of investors and increases the risk of insider trading, critics said.
The Osaka Expo site under construction. The expo is scheduled to take place on Yumeshima, an artificial island, from April 13 through Oct. 13 of next year.
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2024

Challenges remain six months to go before Osaka Expo

About 7.14 million advance tickets had been sold since they went on sale last year — only 51% of the organizers' target of 14 million.
A man searches through the rubble of a wrecked house in the Turkish town of Cankiri after a strong earthquake hit central Turkey in June 2000.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2024

Earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters will shape our future cities

The progress of Antakya’s renewal bears watching. However it proceeds, there will be lessons to learn.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an (center) during a news conference in Beijing on Saturday
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 14, 2024

China leaves economists wanting more action to defeat deflation

The supportive measures announced by Finance Minister Lan Fo'an over the weekend gave little indication Chinese authorities feel any urgency to boost consumption.
Afghan women after an earthquake in Herat, Afghanistan, on Oct. 10, 2023
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 14, 2024

Poorest nations in worst financial shape since 2006, World Bank says

The World Bank report finds these economies are poorer today, on average, than they were on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A building that houses a museum of penises and an H&M in Reykjavik, Iceland, has become the virtual home to some of the world’s worst perpetrators of identity theft, ransomware, disinformation, and other wrongdoing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 14, 2024

Some of the web’s sketchiest sites share an address in Iceland

The street address of the Icelandic Phallological Museum is also the registered address for a company that allows people to shield their identities online.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a debate session with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2024

Japan’s sales tax likely to remain 10% as big parties avoid third rail

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba aims to fund social security programs without changing the current tax rate of 10%.
Kioxia has undergone years of upheaval and the attempt to list the company is closely watched as a test case for buyout firms in Japan where more companies are selling non-core assets or going private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2024

Bain sought $10 billion valuation for Japan's Kioxia, but investors only wanted to pay half

The valuation gap complicates the buyout firm's effort to exit its six-year-old investment in Kioxia.
Norinchukin Bank kicked off its first dollar bond sale since March last year to finance environmentally related projects.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2024

Norinchukin kicks off first dollar bond sale since losses

The bank started marketing a five-year green bond on Oct. 8 at a spread of around 155 basis points over Treasurys.
India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III-M1 blasts off carrying Chandrayaan-2, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, India, on July 22, 2019.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 14, 2024

India creates space strategy to capture market beyond SpaceX

At stake is a launch market worth $14.54 billion by 2031.
President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) Hun Sen (center), Honorary President of the CPP Heng Samrin (left) and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet (right)
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 14, 2024

The son almost rises: Cambodia's Hun Sen the power behind throne

More than a year after inheriting power from his father, Cambodian PM has yet to hold an open news conference to explain how he will navigate challenges.
Employees work at a copper smelter in Yantai, Shandong province, in China, on April 26, 2023.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2024

Inside China's bid to build sway over global metals pricing

After buying mining assets around the world, China wants a bigger say in how the prices of the metals mined are determined.
A young man waits for customers, while selling national flags and patriotic memorabilia in Karachi in August.
WORLD / Society
Oct 15, 2024

Pakistan 'vigilantes' behind rise in online blasphemy cases

Cases of online blasphemy — a crime that carries the death penalty in the country — have exploded in recent years, with arrests turning lives upside down.
Organic, unpasteurized butter is prepared at a milk farm in Saint-Colomban, near Nantes, France, in 2017.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2024

Bakers brace for costly Christmas as butter prices surge

Strong demand, tight supply and dairy processors' preference to use more milk for more profitable products such as cheese have driven the price surge.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's push to get companies to outline capital allocation plans has spurred investors to question management teams seen falling short, said Georgeson CEO Cas Sydorowitz.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024

Japanese company shareholders increasingly challenge management

Shareholder resistance is now routinely a feature of Japan's annual general meeting season.
The prospect of the yen's further depreciation is prompting strategists to warn of increased intervention risk near the ¥150 level, or the 200-day moving average of ¥151.25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2024

Intervention back on investors’ radars as yen weakens against dollar

The yen had its worst loss against the dollar since 2009 in the five days through Oct. 4.
CEATEC brings together 808 companies and organizations from Japan and abroad.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 15, 2024

CEATEC begins near Tokyo as humanity enters 'a new era' with AI

The trade fair showcases products and services that employ artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.
Attendees play an online game on computers in the Bandai Namco Entertainment booth at the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2024

Bandai Namco cuts jobs and culls titles as game sector woes deepen

The firm is a storied name in the industry, tracing its roots back to the introduction of the Pac-Man arcade title in 1980.
Indonesia adopted a measure in 2014 requiring halal labeling for restaurants and food products.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2024

Indonesia to check grocery shelves as deadline for halal labels nears

The world's biggest Muslim-majority country adopted a measure in 2014 requiring the labeling for restaurants and food products.
Toho's acquisition of GKIDS is a fresh push by Toho to strengthen its resources in animation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2024

Toho buys Ghibli animation distributor GKIDS to further overseas growth

The acquisition comes amid a surge in global popularity for Japanese entertainment and fits with Toho's multiyear growth strategy.
Each year, millions of tons of trash and other pollutants enter the world's oceans, creating scenes like this one in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Multinationals must stop flow of ocean waste in Global South

The world's oceans are being suffocated by millions of tons of waste, especially in the Global South. The corporations responsible need to clean up their mess.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.